But Morgan’s delight was tempered because Stokes, his face masked by frustration and a grimace, was forced to leave the field.

The initial diagnosis from the England camp was that Stokes was suffering with a “sore left knee.”

Stokes did re-appear - which suggested the injury was not too serious – but he wasn’t asked to bowl again. It would have been interesting to see if Morgan was prepared to risk him if the game had been closer.

England will hope Stokes pulls up okay on Thursday as they drive to Southampton to prepare for the second match of the series on Saturday.

Any suggestion that Stokes might be a doubt for the Champions Trophy would be a seismic blow for England.

Stokes looked in discomfort during his first over and, while he was able to get through a second over after treatment and pill from England’s medics, he then trudged off with figures of 2-0-14-0.

Morgan is a man who endures troughs of form followed by red-hot streaks. Well, he is on fire right now and this was his third century in his last eight ODI innings.

Little could be better for England than having the skipper in prime touch entering a global event.

Morgan reached three figures with a hook shot off South African speedster Kagiso Rabada that flew over fine leg for six. His first one-day century came for Ireland but his figure of ten for England puts him behind only Marcus Trescothick – who scored 12 – on the all-time list.

He was supported by Moeen Ali, who ransacked 77 not out from just 51 deliveries near the end of England’s innings – including a casual, fantastically-timed flick for six from the final ball.